Money, Marketing and Soul for Massagepreneurs
Archive for August, 2011
“If I Could Start Over” by Linda Roisum
Aug 31st
Are you a new massage therapist starting out? Or maybe you have been doing massage for awhile but are still struggling? Wouldn’t it be great to have the insight of more seasoned massage veterans about what they did when they first started that maybe wasn’t so successful and what they would do differently?
Well check this out, here are 3 things that I would do differently if I were to start my massage career over today knowing what I know now…
Related Posts
Join “If I could start over today…”
If you are a seasoned massage therapist would you like to share some of the things that you would change on how your did things, please contact me at lindaroisum [at] gmail [dot] com. We can either do a Skype interview or you can submit an essay (your choice on how long you’d like it to be) that will be turned into a blog post. Make sure to include a photo and a short bio so you can have the appropriate credit. I like to give credit where credit is due.
Related Posts
“If I Could Start Over” by Allissa Haines
How a Fat-Assed Hippo Can Change Your Business
Aug 30th
I want to share a short and fun story with you that may change the way you name your services and products. Most of us just name our services by the name of the modality — Hot Stone Massage, Swedish, etc. Right? I know I did, but I’m in the process of changing that so stay tuned.
One way to differentiate yourself is to make it impossible for people to compare your services with the massage therapist down the street…you know like comparing apples to oranges, you just can’t do it.
So here’s that funny story…
Once upon a time there was an ambitious French wine team that wanted to break into the competitive international
wine market. They knew that they had to go for something unique in order to stand out in the crowd.
While most wines are either named after the location they originate from or from the grape they are made with (sound familiar?) — think Malbec or Chardonnay, this team went for something gutsy and daring instead.
They gave their wine the inelegant name “Fat Bastard” and chose an over-sized, fat-ass hippo as their logo.
Nuts? Well maybe, maybe not.
This wine grew into an international success within only a couple of years, and according to their interviews, the unusual name was one of the MAIN reasons for that.
So, what’s the lesson here?
Well, when you go on naming your services (products, etc.), you may want to think about using an unusual, visual name that makes people go say “Eh?”.
You can always state the features and benefits later, but first, you have to grab THEIR ATTENTION.
And when you pique their interest with an unusual name, they are more likely to check it out…just like I did with the name of this blog post. Clever, eh?
Surprise them! So instead of Swedish Massage how about Body Bliss?
What kind of unusual name can YOU pick for the types of massage you offer (or your products)? Do share in the comments.
8 Reasons to Include Facebook Pages in Your Marketing
Aug 24th
Haven’t jumped on the Facebook Page marketing bandwagon yet? Do you think that it isn’t worth your time? Not sure what all of the fuss is about?
Read on!
8 advantages of including Facebook Pages in your Marketing Strategy
1. Mini-websites. I’m a big promoter of having your own website! A website should be the hub of your marketing. But, if you haven’t started your website yet, Facebook Pages are indexed by the search engines unlike personal profiles. So if you had a Facebook Page, someone could still find you on the internet and do business with you.
2. “Opting In” vs. “Not Opting Out”. People must take an affirmative action by clicking the “Like” button. This says a lot more than “I choose not to opt out” if they had subscribed to your email newsletter. From a marketer’s perspective, these people have effectively raised their hand to say “yes, I want to hear from you.” They are your number one, gold plated prospects and you treat them as such.
3. Incredible Social Proof. When someone “Likes” your page, all of their friends see. This has tremendous marketing “up side.” When someone doesn’t opt out of emails, nobody knows and there is zero additional up side.
4. Build a Community. Fans (Facebook doesn’t call them Fans anymore – but what do you call them “Likers”) can interact with each other. They can ask and answer questions. They can also post photos and videos (provided you have allowed this in your permissions).
5. Analytics. Facebook provides detailed statistics with regard to interactions that occur on Pages. This makes is very easy to quantify the value of the Page over time. Typical email marketing solutions provide counts of the number of times a message is read or a link is clicked. However, Facebook has additional metrics that can measure interactivity and “buzz.”
6. Reach. Pages are open to everyone on Facebook (that’s 700 million users) as well as the rest of the world (see #1 above) – not just your email subscribers.
7. Demographics. The fastest growing age demographic on Facebook is 35 to 45 year olds. This is a critical demographic for many organizations.
8. Cost. Facebook Pages are FREE. Enough said.
What are your thoughts? Do you have a Facebook Page? Let me know if I missed something.
Warm Candle Massage Demo
Aug 22nd
Have your clients ever said to you that they like the warmth of HotStone but still like the feel of your hands while you do the massage? Are you a little bored or tired of doing the same Swedish or deep tissue massages? Try offering Warm Candle Massage!
Before I show you the demo of the Warm Candle Massage, I wanted to tell you a little bit about how I discovered it and the importance of adding new services.
Add New Services at Least Once a Year to Keep Your Practice Fresh
In my practice at Alexandria Therapeutic Massage, I try to add a new service or modality to my practice once or twice a year. It keeps my practice fresh and give my clients more reasons to visit me.
My Discovery
Last year I attended the ICES Show in Las Vegas where I discovered Buddhalicious Massage Candles and Sensual Light Massage Candles from Natural Selections Bath and Body (make sure you ask for a wholesale price list). These natural candles are made with soy, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil and essential and/or fragrance oils and come in such flavors as green tea (my personal favorite), pomagranate tangerine, mango mango, sore muscle and so many more scents.
These candles burn at a cooler temperature than paraffin so they will not burn your client’s or your skin – always a plus!
Creating a new service
What I did was buy a few to try (about 5 different ones) and then I brought them home to experiment. My goal was to add a new service but not have it be deep tissue based. I do a lot of these and wanted something a little easier on my body occasionally. I told several clients that I had just purchased these new massage candles and was thinking of adding a new service and would they be willing to give me their feedback. I made sure to mention that it would be a premium service so they would feel honored to help out and also they received it at the regular massage rate. I combined the warm massage candle with a Swedish massage but I made it different enough from my regular Swedish so that clients couldn’t compare the two. And voila a new service is born! I introduced Warm Candle Massage back in April with an introductory special and it has been quite successful.
Check out my video demonstration below.
So what did you think? Do you think that you will be offering warm candle massage in your practice any time soon.
